Brazo de gitano, the perfect snack

The brazo de gitano is, without a doubt, the perfect snack. Its name in Spanish means litteraly ‘gypsy’s arm’. It is a rolled sponge cake filled with chocolate or any other cream or jam. We will teach you the recipe for the chocolate one, a delicious version of this dessert.

This chocolate-filled sponge cake is easy to cut, can be filled with whatever you like and can be enjoyed without the need for cutlery or have it as a snack. Its preparation is simple, but requires care to avoid breaking the cake.

Brazo de gitano

Brazo de gitano. | Shutterstock

Ingredients for the brazo de gitano:

Ingredients for the sponge cake:

  • 5 eggs
  • 150 g pastry flour
  • 150 g white sugar
  • A little lemon or orange zest (optional)
  • A little ground hazelnut

Ingredients for the chocolate cream:

  • 200 ml of cream
  • 300 g of chocolate for desserts

How to make the brazo de gitano:

  1. First, we will make the sponge cake. To do this, separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a wire whisk, and then add the sugar and continue beating for a few minutes.
  2. Add the egg yolks this time to the batter and stir with a spatula. Once the yolks are incorporated, sift the flour with the help of a sieve or a strainer. Sprinkle the flour over the dough, little by little, while stirring. Make encircling movements when stirring, so that the egg whites do loose its form. Now it is time to add the lemon or orange zest and the sprinkled hazelnut.
  3. Next, place a rectangle-shaped baking paper on a baking tray. Spread a little bit of butter and flour on it. Heat the oven to 180ºC and place the sponge cake dough forming a rectangle on the baking tray. We put it in the oven and wait 15-20 minutes, depending on the power of the oven.
  4. While it is baking, prepare the chocolate cream. Pour the cream in a small pot and heat it until it starts to boil. Chop the chocolate bar and add it to the pot with the cream. Remove the pot from the heat and stir little by little until the chocolate melts.
  5. Once the cake is out of the oven and the chocolate cream is colder, start the final preparation. Remove the cake from the tray with the help of another baking paper of the same size with a little powdered sugar on it. Once this is done and with the cake still warm, add the chocolate. In this step it is important to spread the chocolate in the center of the cake, otherwise when rolling it, the chocolate will overflow.
  6. Once we have the chocolate incorporated and spread in the center, we take the edge of the rectangle of the cake with the help of the baking paper and roll it up. You have to be very careful not to break the sponge cake. Once this is finished, we have our brazo de gitano ready. It only needs to cool in the refrigerator so that the chocolate does not come out and… enjoy!

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